Anton Nootenboom is an endurance athlete, mental health advocate, and world record holder known as the Barefoot Dutchman. He has walked thousands of miles barefoot through some of the world's most challenging landscapes, including the Himalayas, the Australian coast, and across the United States. A former Dutch soldier, Anton uses his expeditions to raise awareness for men's mental health and inspire more open conversations around mental well-being.
Anton Nootenboom is an endurance athlete, mental health advocate, and world record holder known as the Barefoot Dutchman. He has walked thousands of miles barefoot through some of the world's most challenging landscapes, including the Himalayas, the Australian coast, and across the United States. A former Dutch soldier, Anton uses his expeditions to raise awareness for men's mental health and inspire more open conversations around mental well-being.
Connect with Anton:
Check out REI’s 2026 Editors’ Choice Awards
Thank you to our sponsor:
Shelby Stanger:
On a hot summer day, there's nothing like kicking off your shoes to feel soft sand between your toes, or the prickle of icy water as you dip your feet in a mountain lake. Going barefoot requires mindfulness. You have to look where you're stepping and pay attention to what your feet are feeling. Is the ground hot? Do you need to watch for sharp rocks? Anton Nootenboom, also known as the Barefoot Dutchman, is extremely familiar with these sensations. He's set multiple world records for walking thousands of miles in some of the world's toughest terrain, from the Himalayas to the coast of Australia and across the United States, all without shoes. His mission is to raise awareness about men's mental health, one barefoot step at a time. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op Mastercard. A note, this episode is mostly about adventure, but it does have a conversation about depression and suicide. Please listen with care. Anton Nootenboom, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living. You're one of the wildest Dutchmen we've ever interviewed. I'm so excited to chat with you.
Anton Nootenboom:
Thanks. That's a lot. You mentioned before you spoke to Wim Hof, so I appreciate that.
Shelby Stanger:
Yeah, he was awesome. But you remind me of him. You're like this tall, beautiful Dutchman. I love it. You've had some incredibly wild ideas and set multiple records. Tell me a little bit about how you got into walking long distances, barefoot.
Anton Nootenboom:
Well, I never really thought, "Let's walk long distance barefoot." I just kind of rolled into it. I was living in Australia for a long time, in Sydney. And barefoot walking when you live amongst the beaches, I'm pretty sure you do the same thing in San Diego. You don't even think about it. You just go to the beach, you just don't put on any shoes, and then you go to the supermarket in between without wearing shoes. So I was just getting adjusted to barefoot lifestyle without even thinking about it. And I went through a mental health chapter. I was in the army for a very long time and I went on quite a few tours to Afghanistan. It wasn't even the missions that got me into my mental health issue, it was just life after. So after leaving the army, I kind of lost my own identity, of course, and I wasn't aware of it at first.
So it started with heartbreak, and regardless of who you are, it's one of the toughest things in life to have to go through, and it was the catalyst of everything else. So before I left to Australia, I sold my house in the Netherlands. I was left with a big financial debt, I didn't care about it until it was actually in front of my nose. Got me stuck, thinking I was stuck in the life I had then with a job, I was working in construction. There's nothing wrong with construction, but it was just not my dream life. So all these things started to land on my plate at once, and I just didn't know how to deal with it. And I used to be one of those guys that always say, "Don't cry, man up, just keep pushing through."
At some point, that doesn't work anymore. I started to get panic attacks. I couldn't work anymore, so I had no income. Yeah, it was miserable. So everything landed on my plate at once, as I said, and I just didn't know how to deal with it. And so that got me into a really dark, dark place.
Shelby Stanger:
How did you get out of that dark place? Did one day this idea start percolating in your brain about walking to Everest? What was it that you think got you out?
Anton Nootenboom:
It was hitting rock bottom really hard, really feeling the need like, "Something needs to change now as I'm not coming out of this anymore." And I just got help, pretty much. So I was very resistant to it because I thought I'm a dude, I'm ex-military, I can solve everything myself. I don't need help. Until I responded to one friend that said like, "Hey, maybe just come see this mental health coach with me." And I was acting really tough. I told my friend, "I'm only doing this to be done with your nagging, but not because I want to or that I need to." And that was the start of my healing process, because it kind of opened up my world, where before, I was really stuck in my own little bubble. So my problems become bigger and bigger and my solutions became smaller and smaller. And now all of a sudden there was someone there that saw my problems from a different perspective, and she could guide me to different solutions.
And it wasn't just that one solution as well. It's always like just trying all these new different things that open up your world. It changes your perspective and you meet new people, and that's slowly but steadily how I started to feel better. And coming out of that mental health chapter, I wanted to do something to feel that power again of what you're physically and mentally capable of doing. And I figured, hey, I've always wanted to see Base Camp of Mount Everest. I always wanted to see Mount Everest, so I figured I'm going to do Base Camp of Mount Everest because that's a cool little challenge. And while doing that, I'm going to raise funds for a good cause. But then I figured, Base Camp, Mount Everest, yes, it's a challenge, but it's not very out of the ordinary. How will I get people's attention and keep people's attention?
And I was just walking home barefoot one day, and I figured I'm pretty sure no one's ever done Base Camp of Mount Everest barefoot, because why would you? And that was my little eureka moment. I decided, okay, I'll be the first one to do that.
Shelby Stanger:
The hike to Everest Base Camp is 80 miles round trip with about 8,000 feet of elevation. It starts in lush tropical valleys, but as the trail climbs higher, the air thins and the landscape transforms into rugged glacial terrain. Anton decided he would use his barefoot trek as a fundraiser for the Australian Himalayan Foundation, which supports remote Nepalese communities. In 2019, two years after his mental health crisis began, Anton traveled to Lukla, Nepal to begin his walk.
What was it like walking barefoot?
Anton Nootenboom:
Oh, nightmare. Absolutely hated it. It was horrible. It's like, walking barefoot is super healthy. Doing it on a beach or just go for your little hike through the woods. That's amazing. Do not do it on these rocky roads, climbing a mountain. You've got all these little rocks everywhere, they feel like Lego. So you carry your full backpack, you take a step down a stairs or like a hill and you just put your foot on it. It freaking hurts, it sucks. I do not recommend. There's a lot of donkey and horse and yak dung everywhere that you step into because I'm not going to walk around it anymore.
Shelby Stanger:
(Laughter) Sorry.
Anton Nootenboom:
That kind of made it nice and squishy. It was a little layer of protection at some point. But yeah, I don't recommend. What I really like about it though, is it really, really slows you down. And what I see a lot on these hikes, I've done more hikes, and I'm actually one of those people now as well, you just want to get from A to B. You just want to get there. You want to get to the next little cabin to get your food. We pay less attention to the little details that you see along the side of the road, or the different types of flowers and plants and little animals that you can see just crawling right on that road. Walking barefoot forces you to slow down and makes you see everything that happens around you. And that was kind of cool though. I think that's the beauty of it. And it's difficult. It's really difficult, but take off your shoes and it's not difficult anymore because you're going to watch your step.
Shelby Stanger:
What were your feet like when you were done?
Anton Nootenboom:
Well, they were raw and sore. So the lower regions were not too bad to walk. You got some good trails, and of course it's like all these loose little pebbles. But the higher you get, the vegetation disappears and it gets more rocky and then it gets more icy. So the last three days it was just bare rocks and ice. So pretty much every single step I took, I was just swearing Dutch cursing words, going through the Himalayas. And it was really just trying to get one foot in front of the other. That's kind of what I was asking for. If it was a walk in the park easy-peasy, then everyone will be doing it. That was the challenging bit that made the story more special.
Shelby Stanger:
What are some good Dutch cursing words?
Anton Nootenboom:
I think the most fun one to say for a foreigner is "Godverdomme."
Shelby Stanger:
How do you say it?
Anton Nootenboom:
"Godverdomme."
Shelby Stanger:
"Godverdomme?"
Anton Nootenboom:
Yeah. But you got to have to... "Godverdomme."
Shelby Stanger:
"Godverdomme."
Anton Nootenboom:
Yeah, that's pretty good.
Shelby Stanger:
Oh, that sounds fun. I'm going to say "Godverdomme."
Anton Nootenboom:
"Godverdomme." Yeah.
Shelby Stanger:
I hope this stays in the podcast, guys. Don't do this. Everybody needs to cuss in Dutch.
Anton Nootenboom:
It's fun in Dutch.
Shelby Stanger:
The trek to Base Camp and back took Anton 13 days. And when he finished, he was riding high on his accomplishment. But like many adventures, he found himself struggling to return to normal life and his depression started to creep back in. Anton was aware that suicide is the leading cause of death among men in Australia, and it got him thinking about a new barefoot adventure. This time, he'd walk the eastern coast of the continent to raise awareness and money for men's mental health. It would be a significantly longer trip, 1800 miles compared with the 80 miles he walked in the Himalayas. Six months after coming up with the idea, Anton loaded up a dog stroller with food, water, and camping gear, and set off from Cairns, Australia.
That's a beautiful walk. That's along one of the most magical coasts of the world.
Anton Nootenboom:
That's what you think. That's what I thought as well.
Shelby Stanger:
That's what you think.
Anton Nootenboom:
Yeah.
Shelby Stanger:
That's true. That's what I think. Tell me the reality of what it was like, how long it took.
Anton Nootenboom:
Well, yeah, and it's mainly that road doesn't follow the beach. You are a little bit inland from the beach, so you know there's beautiful beaches in your area, but you're walking barefoot so you don't get there. Most of the time I was just in the freaking middle of nowhere. And it took me 163 days to get from A to B. So five and a half months of walking in nothing. And the roads are terrible. You know chip and tar, you guys have similar roads in some areas in the US as well. You just have a bit of tar, they throw in some rocks, you drive over it a few times, and that's it, that's what you call a road. It is not too bad for your car because you don't feel it, but if you have to walk it with your bare feet, it's like walking on Lego, every single day for eight, nine hours a day.
Shelby Stanger:
It sounds so painful. What do you do for your feet? Do you have special cream or did you have a blister repair kit or you just suck it up?
Anton Nootenboom:
Nothing, because there's nothing you can do about it. Every cream that's out there either makes your skin too soft or too hard. If it's too hard, it cracks up, you get wounds. If it's too soft... You need tough skin to make that trip. There was not anything I can do. And the worst bit is stepping on these little rocks because you got 200,000 nerve endings in your foot. So the nerve endings in my feet were getting bruised. So it kept me up at night from these shocks of pain, like these nerve shocks going through my legs. But there's just nothing you can do about it because you're going to have to suck it up and do it again next day.
Shelby Stanger:
Wow. That's kind of interesting that nothing works. Your feet are naturally healers.
Anton Nootenboom:
Yes. And that's the beauty of it.
Shelby Stanger:
That's also maybe something about your brain too. Your brain can heal if you give it the right medicine.
Anton Nootenboom:
Yeah. Well, one thing that happened all the way at the start, like the first four days were in absolute hell, because one, my feet weren't used to any of these type of roads because I was used to Sydney and sidewalks. And this first road was freshly laid, so the rocks were still really sharp as well. So it was just an absolute terror. And I was so overwhelmed by the pain and the struggle and the heat and not sleeping, thinking like, how am I going to do this? I still have, back then I thought three months to go, it turned out five and a half months to go. But then on the fifth day, I woke up on a side of a little creek, which is unusual because not every creek or river in the north of Australia is safe to pitch a tent next to, because of crocodiles. This one was. And I woke up feeling like, "But this is the adventure you asked for. Look around you, look how beautiful it is.".
And all of a sudden I could grasp that pain and understand this pain is not going to go anywhere. It's going to stay with me until the very last day. I can fight it and then hurt myself twice because you're fighting the pain and you actually feel the pain of your feet. Why would I do that? So I got into this mindset, I can accept the pain for what it is. It's not going to go anywhere, so I better give it a place. And then it kind of got more to the background. Not saying that I didn't feel the pain in the moment, but the pain just became part of the day instead of this overwhelming thought process. And all of a sudden I had more mental clarity and space to also focus on the beautiful things that were happening, the conversations I was having, the nature that I was seeing.
And I think that happens a lot in daily life as well. When something bad happens, we get so fixated on that one thing that happens that we don't see everything else around it anymore. And it just really becomes our main focus of life. And we get into this victim role as well, like, "Oh, this is happening to me." When there's simultaneously so many other things to focus on. Not that you have to stick your head in the sand and pretend that pain is not there, but just accept it for what it is and also see, "Okay, what else can I do to help ease this pain and to focus on more positive things in life?" And I think throughout that Australian walk, that's really something, really a message that helped a lot of people along the way. It's like, "Hey, if he can get through this day, I can get through mine." And that kind of became a thing to share as well.
And that whatever you might be going through, this too shall pass. It's like a very cliche quote, but it became my mantra. Every single day was a struggle, but in the end of the day, I was just excited to be one day closer to my goal, and I ended up at this beautiful spot to pitch a tent, for example. There was always something to be excited about at the same time as well, instead of me just focusing on how hard it was. And I think that helped a lot of people along the way.
Shelby Stanger:
Anton Nootenboom is known as the Barefoot Dutchman. His epic barefoot hikes focus on raising awareness for men's mental health. In October of 2021, after nearly six months of walking along the eastern coast of Australia, Anton was finally approaching his finish line in Sydney. He was on pace to set a Guinness World Record for the longest barefoot hike ever taken: 1,920 miles. Thanks to local news coverage, there were thousands of people following his adventure. When you finished, what was that day like?
Anton Nootenboom:
It was a bittersweet for a lot of reasons. There's no short answer. So please bear in that, it's going to be a long answer again. When you start, the main focus of course is finishing. Like I said, you just want to get from A to B, and finish is home, is comfort. And when I started, that's also seeing my girlfriend again as well. Six weeks before I finished, we broke up. So I was walking home, but I was walking towards an empty home. So the day itself, it was insane. There were so many people there. More than 200, maybe 250 people were there waiting to do the last kilometer with me. And it was just beautiful. And then to see in Manly, I lived on Queenscliff. And once you're on Queenscliff, you can look down at Manly Beach and then that's where the finish was.
And then I saw the finish line after 163 days of walking. And of course I couldn't stop crying and laughing at the same time. It was just so beautiful to also witness how it has impacted all these people along the way. You don't really feel it when you're on the journey, how many people you're affecting, and these were just the people living in Manly. So there was this beautiful, beautiful moment, it was lots of media involved. And once I got to the finish line as well, they were holding this ribbon and there was even more people waiting at the finish line. So it was this big euphoric moment of, you're finishing your walk. But quite soon after, when the people started to go away and I was just there with my friends and I was really happy to see my friends, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I also need to go home.
And I was dreading the feeling of going home because I knew it was going to be really quiet and empty. So on that same day of this big euphoric moment, I took an Uber, which it was like a 1K walk to get home. It's like, I'm not walking home from here. I got an Uber home, and yeah, it was like the opposite feeling. I was sad, like, "What's this? This is not what I walked home to," or didn't want to walk home to. And the next morning I was like, "Well, what am I going to do now with my life? I don't know what to do now." So I went out and walked. I went to the same beach and I walked it up and down again and that's all I could figure out, this is what I'm going to do today.
I bumped into my ex-girlfriend with a new boyfriend, so that kind of added a little bit more oil on the fire of like, "Yeah, I'm not really feeling being home right now." So the irony of the story of walking for your mental health is pretty much the day after I needed to work on my own mental health again because I just didn't know what to do with myself.
Shelby Stanger:
I find it refreshing how forthcoming Anton is about his mental health. He emphasizes that men can benefit from learning how to discuss their feelings and their challenges together. It's something he wishes more men were able to do.
Anton Nootenboom:
It's actually really courageous to speak up. You might have this fear around it, but you go against the fear, you do it anyway, and you realize that that's just a fear that you put there yourself. You're going to be received with openness and love, and if you're not received with openness and love from the men around you, that's not your mate. That's just another man that needs some help, most likely.
Shelby Stanger:
In 2024, Anton's passion for men's mental health inspired him to start an organization called Brave Men Talk. As he built the nonprofit, he cooked up a new wild idea that would take his message farther than ever before. Together with a Barefoot shoe company as a sponsor, he decided to walk barefoot across the United States from LA to New York. This time he would have a team to support him and take care of media outreach, safety, and logistics.
Anton Nootenboom:
So I started 17th of February, Santa Monica Beach, 2024. Finished on the 2nd of November 2024 on Times Square in New York City. So it took me 260 days, eight and a half months of walking through deserts over the Rocky Mountains, which still had six foot of snow. And then the Midwest summer heat was freaking relentless for three and a half months of just no shade, just that humidity and that heat. It destroyed me. And then we had the, what's it called, the Appalachian Mountains just before you get to New York. It was no fun. It was, but, you know.
Shelby Stanger:
And you did it all barefoot.
Anton Nootenboom:
All barefoot.
Shelby Stanger:
Even the Rocky Mountains, in the snow.
Anton Nootenboom:
Yes, ma'am.
Shelby Stanger:
How do you do that in the snow? That doesn't kill your feet?
Anton Nootenboom:
Well, I had a drone. So I would fly a drone over that snowy section to see if there's side ways to go past it as well, or to take a different road and then climb up a section again to get back on that road again. So whatever was necessary to skip as much ice as possible, I would do. But there was one section where I just bumped into this cyclist, and he told me, "Well, there's a beautiful bike lane, and there's going to be a few snowy patches, but you're going to be all right." But the thing is, when people are on a bicycle or a motorbike or in a car, they do not know what it's like to walk in it and especially to walk it barefoot. So I trusted this guy, so I walked into that snowy patch, and it's really, really started to hurt.
I waited too long and I realized I'm screwed now, because I need to continue, but I don't know how long this is going to take. And I had someone there that was always going to be in the area. So I called him, was like, "You need to come right now. I think my feet are frozen. I need your help." So he was there within 10 minutes and I got into the van, he warmed me up. And yeah, pretty much figured out that that road didn't work, so we flew the drone, checked a different road and eventually got around it, but yeah, it was a bit of a rough patch.
Shelby Stanger:
Oh, if you're listening and you're that cyclist, man.
Anton Nootenboom:
Yeah. Yeah. It happened quite often though.
Shelby Stanger:
Was there a highlight that you love talking about from the US?
Anton Nootenboom:
Yes. I mean, the biggest highlight for me, of course, or one of the biggest is nature. Like, oh my God, Utah. It is so freaking gorgeous. Colorado was amazing as well. Even Kansas, even though everyone told me this is a flyover state, it's going to be so boring, I loved it. People are so genuinely nice. And even though it was just cornfields, I liked the small rural towns. It was just a cool experience. But of course, the very, very best thing about all of this is there were so many people reaching out, coming to look for me, to help out in whatever way they could. They would bring me food, they would bring me water, and they would come and have a chat. And we were going through a pretty rough time in the US as well with the elections coming up. I think there was a lot of divide going on. Is that how you say it? Yeah.
Shelby Stanger:
Yeah, there was a lot of division.
Anton Nootenboom:
Division, yeah. There's one particular moment where I was in Missouri, it was hot. And I took a little side road again, and I was walking in the middle of nowhere, this is a pretty cool story actually. Out of the blue, this massive dude comes walking out of the bush, bald, big beard, full of tattoos, chain. And he had his big dog with him as well. And I was thinking, "What's going to happen here? This is kind of random." He probably thought the same thing because this barefooted guy with a big beard and a stroller just comes walking up to him. And he was on the phone. And he saw on my stroller, I had on the front of it said what I was doing: "Walking barefoot from LA to New York City to raise awareness for men's mental health." And he told this guy like, "Hey, I need to hang up right now. There's this dude in front of me, I'm going to have a chat."
And he put his phone away and he looked at me, he's like, "We need you." And he was going through a world of shit in that moment. He was in a miserable place. And we walked for a little bit together and we talked for about an hour. At the start of this conversation, he was kind of hunched over. You could tell he was struggling. And by the end of the conversation, he was standing up and he was laughing, he's like, "Man, this feels so good." And I had this little camera, like a 360 camera. And whenever I saw something in the distance happening that I thought like, "Hey, this could be something," I switched on the camera. And then in hindsight I would say like, "Hey, this is a camera. Do you mind me sharing this story?"
So I asked him the same thing like, "Do you mind me sharing your story? Because I think it's really powerful what just happened here. And this could create a safe space for a lot of other people to feel like, 'Hey, if he can do it, then I can do it.'" So I shared that and it went viral. I had quite a few that went viral of these conversations. But the most beautiful thing that happened, always when a conversation like that went viral, even though social media gets a lot of negative things and a lot of hate and bullying, with these conversations, there were thousands and thousands of people responding to him and his pain, but then also sharing their own story. And then people respond to those people that they don't know, saying like, "Hey, I'm here for you. Here's my phone number." So this beautiful community all of a sudden was there because of his story and they started to raise money for him so they could help him out, and people went to see him to hand him the money so he could start a bit of a new life again.
And this happened quite a few times. So of course it's about the adventure, but the main reason that I was there was to raise funds and awareness for men's mental health, and it happened so many times that it worked. So that was beautiful. In this random little bushy place in Missouri, this meeting happened, and it just shows that life is full of surprises. Regardless of how dark and deep you might feel that you're in it, the most positive surprise could be literally around the corner every single day. So don't give up. And it shows the power of people sharing their messages, or that creates a safe space for someone else to feel, "Okay, but if he or she can do it, I can do it."
Shelby Stanger:
On November 2nd, 2024, after 260 days and over 3,000 miles of trekking, Anton made it to Times Square in New York. As he walked his final mile, hundreds of people who had flown to the city from around the world, joined him. Anton was overwhelmed that so many folks had shown up for him and he fully embraced their support. By the time he reached the finish line, his feet were completely destroyed and he was ready for some rest and recovery.
How did your body change after walking across the country?
Anton Nootenboom:
It was a mess. It was an absolute mess. So I was hunched over behind this trolley for 260 days, and I was hurting so much, so my body would tense up the entire day, so my back is a complete mess. Yeah, I lost maybe 10 kilos along the way, so I was really skinny and fragile. That's how I felt like at least. But then my feet, funny enough, they were fine after a week. So they got most of the beating and they were fine. So that shows the body is capable of doing so much more than we give it credit for.
It took a little longer for the rest of my body to heal. I dare to say it's not even healed yet completely, I'm just starting to dig into what else can I do. But yeah, I don't recommend walking 260 days behind a stroller through a desert and a mountain, because it's going to destroy your body for sure. And again, I love the US, don't get me wrong. I love the US, I love everyone in it, but holy hell, the food you guys have, it's destroying your body even more. Wow.
Shelby Stanger:
I 100% agree. When I go to Europe, I'm like, "Oh, thank God." I mean, I live in Southern California, so food's not terrible.
Anton Nootenboom:
No, yeah, California, New York is kind of okay, but everything in the middle... I asked for broccoli, it's like, "What? What's that?" Like there's a section somewhere in the supermarket that they didn't know of.
Shelby Stanger:
Now that you know yourself a little bit better, what sort of tools do you use to get through these post-adventure crashes?
Anton Nootenboom:
Well, there's a few things that are in my routine now. One is breath work. That's my main key to my nervous system, and I think everyone should know about this. Because it just works. Within one or two minutes, you can tap into your nervous system and calm down your heart rate, your blood pressure, and up your focus. So that's my main tool for pretty much everything. And then when you do the deeper work, you go into the subconscious. For me, it's meditation, and not really long, deep meditation, I can't sit still for that long. But even if it's just like a five-minute meditation of zooming out whatever I was in in that moment that caused a bit of stress or anxiety, I can come back to myself again: "Okay, I'm just here, we're just going to do this and it's okay."
But mainly I think my biggest medicine is brotherhood. Is having that group of men in the area that I know I can lean on whenever I need to, and they can lean on me. And that's something that's really missing in today's society because we just started to see each other as competition. And it's been like that for thousands of years. We always had brotherhood, we learn from each other, we hunted together, we mourned together our losses in war, and that's completely gone. So that's something I'm really fighting for to get back into society that is accepted is brotherhood. Same for women, sisterhood. Amazing. Whatever you might be going through, you've got your people to lean on.
Shelby Stanger:
If you want to keep up with Anton, you can follow him on Instagram at the barefootdutchman. That's B-A-R-E-F-O-O-T, underscore, D-U-T-C-H-M-A-N. Anton's next wild idea is to run 26 barefoot marathons in 26 days. Wild Ideas Worth Living is part of the REI Podcast Network. It's hosted by me, Shelby Stanger, produced by Annie Fassler, Sylvia Thomas, and Sam Peers Nitzberg of Puddle Creative. Our senior producer is Jenny Barber. Our executive producers are Paolo Mottola and Joe Crosby. Thank you again to our partner, Capital One and the REI Co-op Mastercard. As always, we love when you follow the show, take time to rate it, and write a review wherever you listen. And remember, some of the best adventures happen when you follow your wildest ideas.